catchment management

catchment management

For over a decade, we’ve worked with project partners and environmental experts to help restore degraded creek banks in South East Queensland (SEQ).

THE SEDIMENT PROBLEM

Sediment run-off – soil that runs off degraded land, creeks and riverbanks into waterway catchments – impacts waterway health in Brisbane and the broader SEQ regional catchment. It’s also an issue in many areas around Queensland and Australia.

Research and monitoring undertaken by PBPL and partners indicates up to 80% of the sediment depositing in the Port’s navigation channel at the mouth of the Brisbane River originates from degraded creek banks in the Lockyer Valley, around 100km upstream of the Port of Brisbane.    

Sediment build up is removed through maintenance dredging (conducted under strict permit conditions) to ensure safe commercial shipping. 

THE APPROACH

Since 2016, we’ve worked with a range of partners to help stop sediment run-off ‘at the source’, reducing the amount that enters the regional catchment. Over the years, project partners have included Healthy Land & Water, local landowners, environmental researchers, local Councils and the Queensland Government.

the benefits

Projects typically clear and stabilise degraded, weed-infested creek banks that are prone to erosion, then revegetate sites with native plants to further stabilise banks and help prevent soil entering the waterway.  

While each project site is unique, benefits include: 

  • reduced sediment loss and erosion 

  • native creek vegetation increases and provides habitat for land and aquatic life 

  • improved flora, fauna and in-stream habitats  

  • improved water quality both within the creek and within the broader catchment 

  • improved land security for producers when these creeks adjoin agricultural land. 

OUR PROJECTS

Since 2016, we have invested around $6.4 million in catchment management projects across SEQ – supporting the rehabilitation of more than 4.3km of degraded waterways and preventing thousands of tonnes of sediment entering rivers each year, benefiting regional waterways, the Brisbane River and the Port’s shipping channel.

Laidley Creek

Our longest-running project is with Healthy Land & Water, where we have partnered to complete five stages of work at Laidley Creek under the Laidley Creek Restoration Master Plan. Across these five stages:  

  • 3.8km creek banks rehabilitated 

  • Almost 20,000 tonnes of sediment prevented from entering the local waterway every year 

  • 11,104 native trees and 8,830 native plants planted 

  • Reduced erosion risk for prime agricultural land, particularly during severe weather events. 

Find out more about the Laidley Creek project. 

Regrading the creek banks

At some sites, grade control structures are installed

Preparing for replanting of native vegetation

Completed site



DEVELOPMENT AT THE PORT

Developers at the Port need to comply with the Port of Brisbane Technical Guidelines to manage and treat stormwater.
 
Qualifying developers can partially meet stormwater quality requirements by investing into PBPL’s offsite stormwater treatment program. Contact PBPL for more details. 
 
PBPL tracks development at the Port that is utilising offsite investment. The below table summarises the investments made in catchment management and the area of port development ‘treated offsite’.

Table 1: This table summarises investment made by the Port of Brisbane into catchment rehabilitation projects under its offsite stormwater treatment program and the amount of land at the Port that has utilised the investment.

Year
Offsite Investment
Hectares generated
Hectares used
Cumulative Hectares remaining
2015/16
$500,000
20.00
17.80
2.20
2016/17
$503,635
20.15
6.87
15.48
2017/18
$0
0.00
5.48
10.00
2018/19
$84,000
3.36
17.57
-4.21
2019/20
$242,000
8.96
6.42
-1.67
2020/21
$839,000
31.07
16.49
12.91
2021/22
$579,000
19.63
10.58
21.96
2022/23
$421,925
15.63
36.63
0.96
2023/24
$1,187,600
43.96
31.21
13.71
2024/25
$2,040,245
61.83
19.82
55.72
 
Information current as at 1 June 2026